Table for hospital beds



Sept. 27, 1949. P; A. CARLSTEDT TABLE FOR HOSPITAL BEDS Filed May- 22. 1946 JNVENTOR. [PAUL A. (#msrwr BY HTTORNEYS Patented Sept. 27, 1949 UNELT STAT PAT Q'F F CE TABLE-FOR; HO SBEIAL .BED S.

BauLA. Carlstedt', EdmnndshWash.

AppIicaJionMay ZZ, 1946, Serial Nb; (Fl-1 ,533

4: Claims. 1'.

My; invent-ion. relates to table devices, as .used-in connection with. hospital; beds: and the". like;. for thezuseandacenveniencezofrbederiddempersonsfor writing; reading; etc.

'Ilheprincipallobjeot of; my. invention is to provide; a.- suitable; and convenient wri ing; able to meetthegspeciali need: of anpatient: who, for some reasonasuchgasea spinal; injury, is unable to. be up into;a;.sitting;psitiom in. bed, and who therefore: cannot conveniently; use some other tylnessofatablesz.

Ar further (21 11.net;v of my. invention; is to provide aibeditablei structure; simple; inzconstruction and 1 w-:in\cost,.Which'-, can beesirnply. ands easily. at.- achesi. witheutitbe usfi o-frtoqls, tmthehead: or endframezof; a common; type of. hospital ,bed, for example, and which can beqilicklyandieasilyadise p sed; eitheri-byremovingit from the bed entirely or by folding the device into a position projecting above thelheadiframerofthelbed, according to he yncofnst uctionnreferrcd By, employing the latter and preferred'methodj of'opera, tion and construction, a still further object of my invention is. to .providea table: which,.when not in use, can-be stored in an outeofrthe-way position; while at the-same time alwaysbein within easy reachgofJthe patient andwhichcan bebrought into position for use withlease-and speedeby. the patient,

' In general terms a feature. of .this invention resides in the table structure for attachment to the end frame of a bed and comprising an arm attachable at one end to an end frame of the bed near the top thereof to extend over and generally longitudinally of the bed, and a generally upright table to extend transversely of the bed and having depending spaced leg element to rest directly on the bed, the other end of said arm and said table, at a location near its top, being interconnected to brace the table in upright position resting on the bed. Preferably both arm connections, that is, the connection thereof to the table and that to the end frame of the bed are made such as to enable swinging of the arm in a vertical plane and folding of such arm and the table together during such swinging. It is to be understood that the term table as herein used has reference generally to the table panel itself, defining the working surface. The invention therefore contemplates a table structure, such as that herein described, by which the person lying in bed is presented a generally upright working surface which is stable and conveniently usable.

It is better not to rest the weight of the table on the patients body. Preferably, therefore, the

jenting downwardly from. the. table; at, the side oh sideszof-thematient.andlsupporting, the table-a suitable ands-convenient distance above the mattress and the patients-body.

Referring tothe drawings throughout which likeireference numerals designate; like partsz' Fig. 1 is the perspective -viewof;one:form oftmy invention as applied-teahospitalbedand showing thetable in use.

Fig. 2'is asection onthe line 22:of Fig. 1L

Fig, 3 is a-perspectiveview of'a-secondformof my. invention, also showingthe table in use as applied to a bed, and showing byv broken linesa folded or inoperative position of thetable.

F-ig 4 isasection on-the line '4-.-40f Fig. 3.

The bed table structure illustratedin Figs. 1 and 25 comprises a tabl Ilhaving suitable leg projections.- H which. support. the table and straddley the. body. of the patientz. The; table. I] iskept in a substantially vertical and stable position by the-arrm l2ew-hich spansbetween the table l-lr, andtthesheaddrame ofz thebed. This: arm-r l2 need not. necessaril be rigidly, attached. tothe table H however it is shown as such. The end efsthe armJ'Zremote fromtheitable I l is-attached to. thechea-dg frame of the bed l by means of: a spring. clamp 3 Whi6h fastensaonto the topzrail 20f the-head .frameof bed: as shown insection" detail in-zFig, 2;. This. clamp,- enables the arm torsw-ing vertically.

The bed table as shown in Fig. 1 is intended to be removed from the bed entirely when not in use.

Referring to Fig. 3 I show a second form of my invention wherein a table 14, having one or more legs I4, is pivotally attached to an arm l5 by some such means as a hinge I6. The arm I5 is also pivotally connected to the head frame of the bed. In this figure this is accomplished by attaching the arm I5 to the spaced lugs IT by means of the bolt [8. These lugs I! are, in turn, integrally mounted on a bracket or cross-piece [9 which in turn is bolted to the head frame of the bed 1 by suitable means and which, as is shown here, may consist of another cross-piece member 20 placed on the opposite side of the head frame and bolted in position directly opposite to the outer cross-piece bracket I9 by means of bolts 2| which are inserted through apertures in said cross-pieces. Preferably at least two bolts 2 l, provided with the wingnuts 22, are used to firmly clamp the bracket parts to the frame of the bed. This is shown in greater detail in Fig. 4.

It should now be plainly evident that the table can be swung upwardly and folded into a position shown by broken lines in Fig. 3 where it may lean against a wall behind the head of the bed, or else can be brought to a stop position by the arm I5 striking the horizontal bar member on the top of the frame of the bed.

It should be pointed out here that an overhead folding table, such as that just described, could use to advantage as a pivotal attachment between the arm member l5 and the bed frame, a clamp device or devices very similar to the clamp means I3 shown in Fig. 2, if such clamp means is properly located with reference to the vertical bars in the head frame of the bed, so as not to strike these vertical bars when the table is being folded to its overhead position.

While I have shown only three particular embodiments of my invention, I do not wish to limit myself to the exact forms shown, since the particular constructions shown and described are intended as illustrative rather than delimitive.

Obviously changes in the precise embodiment of the invention herein disclosed may be made within the scope of what is claimed without departing from the spirit of the invention.

What 1' claim is as follows:

1. A table structure for attachment to a bed, comprising an arm attachable at one end to an and member of the bed near the top of such member to extend therefrom over and generally longitudinally of the bed, and a generally upright table to extend transversely of the bed and having depending spaced legs arranged to rest directly on the beds mattress astraddle the beds occupant and carry substantially the full weight of the table, the other end of said arm and said table, at a location near its top, being interconnected to brace said table in upright position resting on the bed, against tilting longitudinally of the bed.

2. A table structure for attachment to a bed, comprising a table, a table-supporting arm swingably attachable at one end to an end frame of a bed for swinging vertically, said arm in its operative position extending over and generally longitudinally of the bed and being swingably connected at its opposite end to an upper portion of said table to brace the same longitudinally of the bed, While disposed in generally upright position with its foot portion resting directly on and frictionally engaging the bed to carry at least a portion of the weight of the table and hold the same against swinging relative to the arm.

3. A table structure adapted for attachment to a bed, comprising mounting means adapted for securement to an end frame of the bed, an arm pivotally attached at one end to said mounting means so that it can be swung on its pivot to a vertical inoperative position above said end of the bed, or down to extend over and lengthwise of the bed in operative position, a vertically disposed table pivotally attached at its upper portion to the other end of said arm so that it can beswung upwardly to a position alongside of said arm, and a pair of spaced legs projecting from said table and adapted to be stood upon the bed at opposite sides of a person lying therein.

4. A table structure adapted for attachment to a bed, comprising a table, a table-supporting arm swingably attachable at one end to the head frame of a bed, for swinging vertically, and swingably and supportingly attached at its other end to said table in the vicinity of its upper edge portion, to support said table in generally upright position over the beds mattress and overlying the beds occupant, said table having depending legs resting upon the mattress astraddle the occupant and by their engagement of such mattress preventing the table swinging relative to said arm, and said arm preventing the table tilting relative to the bed, said table and arm being adapted to fold together into substantially parallel relationship and swing upwardly over said head frame, the over-all length of said table and legs below the point of connection with said arm, and with respect to the length of said arm, being such as to locate such legs heightwise in the vicinity of the connection of the arm and bed, with the parts swung upwardly, and thereby within easy reach of the occupant.

PAUL A. CARLSTEDT.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 1,118,746 Davis Nov. 24, 1914 1,719,614 McIntosh July 2, 1929 1,823,214 Seriven et al Sept. 15, 1931 2,245,120 Abresch June 10, 1941 2,428,649 Brown Oct. 7, 1947 

